The Vault
by Foe-Star
Summary: If given the choice, you would have gone into the wastes to follow your dad, right? Well, what if you weren't given that choice?
1. Chapter 1

Stanley Cadences' life had never really been too out of the ordinary in the vault. When he was just a baby, he would stare at his S.P.E.C.I.A.L book for long amounts of time while his father spoke with Jonas about this and that. When he was Ten, and he got his PIP-BOY-3000, he was as happy as any other child could be. When he took the G.O.A.T, it was actually a small bit of interest in his otherwise uninteresting life. He became a Vault loyalty inspector. a job thought to have been abandoned long ago.

But, as it turned out, it was a perfect job for Stanley, because he got a desk. Right next to Amata, his crush since he was ten. She was the Overseers daughter, and was on a track for politics within the Vault. As such, her desk was right next to Stanleys'. They talked a lot, about various things that any average Vault Dweller would talk about. The lounge music on the P.A, the water purifier, even how it was rumored had a recipe for Nuka-Cola in his room.

And Everyday, Stanley would go home, always passing the other, older Stanley on the way. They would quickly say hi, then leave each-other. Stanley would then go home, and sit down for dinner with his father. They would occasionally talk, but it was mostly about their day, and what happened. James never was fond of the idea of his son as a Loyalty Inspector, saying it was Draconian.

this was all just regular, even overtly normal in Vault life. yet, it all added up to this very day:

Stanley was working at his desk, looking at the Vaults code of conduct, which took several pages on the screen. This was practically Stanleys job, seeing as how there was little loyalty to inspect. He stared at the monitor, silently mouthing the words of the conduct.

He didn't even look at the Vault clock next to him, saying that it was nearly twelve at night. Amata had long ago left for her room, and even the Overseer had left the security room. It was just Stanley, watching his computer screen flicker green. His eyes began to droop as he heard foot-steps outside.

This was odd, as Vault conduct stated no one but security officers were allowed out after nine. nine thirty if you were lenient. Stanley looked at the clock, finally seeing that it was twelve. Stanley rose slowly, reaching for the window. He crouched low, watching the slowly moving figure. It was Jonas, holding a small box under his right arm.

Stanley un-tensed. If it was Jonas, the worst he could be doing was looking at some of the days data from the lab outside the overseers office. Stanley was about to return to his desk to shutdown for the night, when he heard a second set of footsteps. He looked out the window, and saw his father! Now, this was suspicious. who needed two scientists to get one forgotten note. Stanley picked up his baseball cap, placing it on top of his spiky black hair. Against his feelings, he picked up a 10mm. pistol from a box below his desk, just in case there was something wrong going on.

As the door opened, Stanley stepped outside just as his dad ducked into the followed, ducking around the door, crouching behind a computing terminal. Jonas was standing, his back to James, while James was picking at the Overseers door. Stanleys' heart skipped a beat. this was definitely un-loyal behavior, but it was his dad doing it. How could this be happening? Why? He had to find out. he stepped from behind his terminal, taking a few steps forward. Jonas stepped back, jabbing at James.

"Doc, we got a big problem here." James turned, seeing his son. James arose, frowning.

"Son, I know this looks bad, but you must understand, I can explain." Stanley left the pistol in its' holster at his side, folding his arms.

"Explain what, Dad? You're breaking into the Overseers' office! What is there to explain?" Jonas put a finger to his lips, looking at the Overseers house-door. James put his hands out, to make a downward motioning.

"Listen, son. I'm leaving the Vault. So is Jonas." Stanley stifled a yelp from his throat. such crazy talk!

"What!" He paused, lowering his voice." What are you saying? The door can't open. You'll be throwing your life away for nothing." James shook his head, sighing. Jonas walked backwards, turning on the coffee maker. He put a cup under the spout, pouring some coffee.

"What is that for?" Whispered Stanley, confused.

"Coffee calms the nerves, kid. here, have a cup, and we can all talk this over. civil-like. He looked at James, winking. Stanley didn't catch the wink, instead going for the coffee.

"Well, I could use some." Stanley began pouring himself a small cup just as Jonas finished his. Jonas then brought his cup swiftly down on Stanleys head, smashing it into a million tiny pieces, and causing Stanley to fall into the machine, knocking it onto the floor.

"Jonas! What did you-"

"Sorry dock, He can listen to your message when he wakes up. We need to leave, now!" There was a stirring from the Overseers room, sending Jonas back to the door. He opened it, allowing Jonas enough time to set a Holo-disk on the table next to an unconscious Stanley. he passed through the shutting door, just as the Overseer came out.

"What is all of this racket?" He asked. he looked down, and jumped as he saw the unconscious Stanley in a puddle of brown coffee.

"Dear god! Guards! Guards!"

Stanley awoke to the sound of a near-bye saw-blade. He looked to his right to see Andy floating closer, Saw close to Stanleys face.

"AAAAUUUUUGHHH!" Cried Stanley, flopping off of the operating table he was placed upon. He was naked, and covered from head to toe in happy-face bandages. He looked around, to see he wasn't alone in the doctors-office. There was Butch, sitting next to his fellow gang members. There was Susie Mack, crying next her older brother. And Grandma Taylor was in the corner, attending to Bleeding officer Gomez.

"Ah, I knew a few bandages would cure you up! Too bad I didn't get to try out amputation, though." Came Andies jovial voice. He floated to the side-table, picking up Stanleys jump-suit, stained brown on one side.

"I had my companion Stanley go to your room to pick up a new jump-suit, but he isn't back yet. So, enjoy your coffee scented jump-suit! Now, who has a medical emergency!" Stanley ran to the office of his father, hoping no one saw him naked. He dressed quickly into his soggy jump-suit, surprised at the sight of his fathers office. it was usually the most tidy place, but now there were papers strewn about, and his fathers computer was up-ended on the floor, still functioning, albeit upside-down.

Stanley put up his dads chair, and took a seat. He put his head in his hands, looking at the blank desk top. What was happening. why was everyone in the medical office, and why were some of them hurt? So many questions, not the least of which what happened to his dad.

His thoughts were interrupted by the door sliding open. It was Butch, holding Stanleys BB-gun. Stanley raised an eyebrow to this.

"Hey, uh, I kinda used this. To save my mom. You can have it back...Thanks." Butch set it on the table, with a few case full of BB's. Stanley watched as Butch left, going over to a corner where his mom was. The door opened again, and in came officer Gomez.

"Hey, I found your baseball cap next to the operating table, so I told Andy to give a pass on his "surgery" while I gave it to you." Gomez handed it over, the coffee stained hat. Stanley took it, placing it in his pocket.

"Why is Andy covering people in band-aids?" Stanley peeled one from his brow.

"Well, since your dad left, we had to take an emergency measure, and made Andy doctor until further notice. Needless to say, I'm regretting that choice." There was a scream from outside as Andy was diagnosing Freddies' broken arm. a spatter of blood hit the window.

"I should go check on that." officer Gomez left young Stanley in the room.

Stanley just sat in his fathers chair, looking out the stained window. He could see two security guards enter, officer Wolf and officer Mack. they were wearing full on Vault officer riot-armor, with police batons at their sides. Behind them was the Overseer, his arms folded behind his back. Stanley straightened up, putting his hands behind his back. the door slid open, allowing the officers to enter. they both separated so that the Overseer could put his hands on the table, leaning over the table. his face was a picture of anger and tired rage.

"Hello, Overseer sir. How is life?"

"Bad, especially for you. Do you know what damage your father has caused? do you know how many people died because of him?" Stanleys' mouth opened, the words forming in his mind, but dying at the tongue.

"N..no sir. I don't." The Overseer seemed annoyed at this, but he always seemed annoyed at Stanley, for some unknown reason.

"Look, your father somehow opened the door, in direct violation of not only the security laws, but common sense! He let in a whole swarm of Radroaches, and the power required to open the Vault door started an overload in some of the Vaults electrical systems, causing fires! the sprinkler system was down, thanks to a malfunction, and now we have been forced to manually fight the fires, while our one mechanic in the vicinity is fetching YOUR jump-suit, so you can see if I'm not in a good mood."

"Well, I didn't know about any of this stuff...about my dad leaving, or Jonas helping him-"

"Jonas? Jonas is with your father? Damn it, they were our only real doctors! Now we have a cleaning robot as a doctor! And he can't even perform a diagnosis without-" Another blood splatter hit the window, accompanied by some oil.

"Without that happening!" The overseers face was puffed up, and his normally clean-cut hair was out-of place from the frustration.

"Sir, I don't know anything about this, and I'm just a little out of it...I mean, my dad just left me here. Do you know how that feels?" The Overseers face was a picture of thought for a moment, before simmering down.

"Look, I know this is all just as terrible for you as for us. You're stuck with us, thanks to you-, I mean, the good doctor." Stanley looked down for a moment, before looking into the Overseers face.

"So, what are we doing about this mess?" Stanley could have almost swore he saw the Overseers lips curl into a tiny smile for a moment, before he took his business face.

"We need all of the security personnel, including you, to go at the roaches in the eastern corridor. My monitors tell me the souther part of the Vault is already putting out the flames separating them from us, so we don't nee don't worry about fire fighting for some time. Can you use a baton, or shoot?" Stanley thought about. He only ever shot his BB gun from time to time, and he never used a club before.

"I guess so...I'll take a gun...I guess."

The eastern part of the Vault was dark, with only red emergency lights flashing on and off, bugging Stanleys vision. He was put into a security suit, which was a thick Blue jump-suit with padding, under a kevlar vest. He was sent in with Park and Gomez. Gomez was in charge, being in front with his Baton in hand. Park was behind Stanley, with a gun in his hand, steadily pointed forward.

Stanley felt out of place. He was a law officer, sure, but he was a desk-jockey. He had never killed a living thing!...except on his tenth birthday, but that didn't count. His hand shook, his gun waving around chaotically.

"Stanley, maybe you should put that away until you need it. You're gonna shoot one of us by accident." Gomez laughed a little bit, before continuing forward. Stanley put his gun at his side, sighing.

Officer Park sneered, moving past Stanley, and next to Gomez.

"Can we trust this kid? I mean, his dad caused all this. I think he's lying bout not knowing his dads' plans. We should fi-" Gomez smacked his baton butt against Parks armor.

"Shut up! This kid is stuck with us, and we're gonna live with that. I don't want you making his life any harder." Park sneered again, moving ahead of the group. He looked down the hallway, seeing a few crushed roaches near the end of it. but there was a small trail of blood leading to a side corridor.

Without signal, he pushed forward, reaching the trail of red blood leading to an open door-way. As he was about to move in, a Roach jumped down from one of the rafters, crashing into the back of his neck. it began biting furiously at his spine, breaking through the skin and chewing on his column.

He screamed, falling to the ground and paralyzed. Gomez came rushing forward, turning the hallway and batting the thing away. It smacked the cold wall, falling limp to the floor. He leaned down to Officer Park, who was babbling in pain. Stanley turned the corner, watching Gomez attempt to patch up the wound on the back of the neck. Park was fading fast, and Stanley looked at the door where the blood was draining into.

Stanley walked past, in a daze. He walked through the open portal, past the overturned table where so many papers were scattered on the floor. An unconscious Officer Kendall was slumped against the wall, a bloody baton in his hands. Stanley opened the next door, spooking a crouched Older Stanley, who dove past screaming while holding a fresh jump suit. Stanley sat at his desk, pushing his baseball bat onto the floor, groping inside of his desk drawer to find a framed picture.

Officer Gomez turned to the room Stanley had gone into, ignoring the Older, screaming Stanley who fled past. Gomez looked down at Park, giving a grunt of rage as he realised that the wound had bleed out. Gomez arose, and entered the room, crouching immediately to the unconcious Kendall. After putting a hand to his neck, he found Kendall still had a pulse.

Stanley found the framed picture, and held it to his face with both hands. It was a picture taken nine years ago, on his tenth birthday. His hair was still short, thanks to his dads' thoughts on Stanleys natural spiky hair. His right eye was darkened, thanks to Butch being a hungry and cruel child.

But, despite this, he was happy back then. He had a crush on Christine, got a B.B gun from Dad, and an old base-ball cap from Stanley.

_Dad..._

Officer Gomez had finished his inspection of Officer Kendall, and finally turned to Stanleys' sleeping chambers. Stanley was getting up, hurriedly tucking a frame under his kevlar vest. He had a strange, sad look in his eyes.

"Hey, are you alright son?" Stanley wiped away something from his right eye, and turned his face to Gomez. His eyes now burned slightly, not physically, but with some inner light.

"I'm fine, Officer Gomez. Let's finish our job, and get out of this place."


	2. Chapter 2

Amata was inside of her fathers office, crying. She was in her room when she heard the sound of Stanley crashing to the floor, and her father had forbade her to leave her room. She stayed inside while outside, the Vault went to hell. She could hear security officers scurrying about, trying to bring order, and stop people from leaving the Vault, like Jonas and the Doc.

_Stanley_...Her father had him brought to the medical office, where Andy would be taking care of him. She was worried for him, not knowing how would take his Fathers leaving, or the fact that they found Jonas...

_Oh god!_ She remembered hearing his voice, right below her fathers desk when she ran outside of the room to see what was happening. He was trying to smooth-talk his way out of trouble, and then there was a gun shot, and she couldn't hear him anymore. Amata had run back to her room, collapsing onto her bed and crying.

As she was beginning to stop sobbing, her fathers voice came over the Vault P.A system, giving out a public message.

"The Rad-roach infestation is under control. All residents either return to your rooms, or report to Officer Cadence at the doctors office for assignment. We need to get under operational standards, and fast. That is all." Amata got up slowly, moving to her door. Officer Cadence was what dad had always called Stanley, because he was technically a part of the police force.

Amata ran out of her room, and into the Vault, wanting so badly to see Stanley. She had to see if he was alright, to see if he needed someone to talk to, or if he needed any help at all. She crossed the Atrium, and passed into the residential quarters, where Senior Stanley was working on Andy outside of the clinic.

"Hold still Andy! I can barely get at that loose screw without you bobbing up and down."

"It's not me, sir. You're all jumpy. Have you taken your aspirin?"

"No. The doc was supposed to-" Stanley looked at Amata, pausing his sentence. he swallowed, and went back to work.

"He was a good man, and a better friend, and I'm sure he had his reasons." Amata walked past, seeing all of the people in the main room of the clinic. Another line, consisting of Butch, Wally, and even Freddie Gomez, were outside of the doctors office. Amata pushed past them, ignoring a cat-call by Butch.

Inside, sitting at his fathers desk, was Stanley, writing on a form for Paul Hannon.

"Alright Paul, welcome to the Vault 101 security force. Please take this document to the Overseers office, and you will receive a standard 10mm. pistol and police baton."

"Thanks, man. Sorry about your-"

"Shut it." As Paul shuffled outside, Amata sat in front of Stanley putting a hand on top of his paperwork.

"Are you alright?" She asked, looking at his blank face.

"Yes, I'm fine Amata. How are you?" Amata was shocked by how casual he sounded, and how he just took the paper from under her hand, beginning to sign it without even looking down.

"I'm...okay, I guess. Listen, I know this must be hard for you, but you gotta know-"

"Amata, I thank you for your concern for my well-being over these recent "developments" in my life, but I am the Vault loyalty inspector. As such, I have been ordered to get new recruits for your fathers security forces."

"What will more security do? We need to repair the Vault, not enforce some loyalty right now!" Stanley put the paper down, and gave a deep breathe.

"Amata, as a friend, I'm gonna have to ask you to step out for a while, and let me sort through these new recruits-"

"Don't call them that! It's just Butch and his cronies. What has gotten into you?"

"Duty, Amata. Duty to my fellow Vault dweller, and Duty to the Overseer, who only does what is best for us. Step out." Amatas' mouth formed an O of shock. she rose up, and slapped Stanley across the face. She stormed out of the doctors office, and into the hallway. Stanley sat down, holding the red area on his face. He rubbed it coolly, while knocking on the window, signaling for Freddie Gomez to come inside.

"Alright, Freddie. Before I have you read this paper-work, I'm gonna need to know if you have any disorders, both mental or physical." Freddie sat down awkwardly, looking at the door to make sure it was closed.

"Well, I don't know what it does, but I have V.D.S, or something. Your dad always gave me-"

"You mean the previous physician?"

"Yeah, him. He always gave me Chlorpromazine. I'm supposed to take it everyday, or I get...edgy, the Doc always said." Stanley made a note under Freddies' paperwork, making a reminder to look through the medicine cabinet for the Chlorpromazine tablets.

"Alright, do you have any comments or questions before you begin?"

"Uh, yeah. What do we do?"

"We keep order in the Vault while Stanley does necessary repairs to the Vaults primary systems. If we do our job right, the Vault could have light back within a few days in areas where the lights have gone out. Not only this, but we also need to work on any leftover Rad-roaches. Clear?"

"Uh, crystal, yeah." Stanley Put his signature on the paper-work, and handed it to Freddie.

"Thank you Freddie, Please take this to the Overseers office to receive a standard 10mm. pistol and Police Baton."

"Thanks. I'll see ya later." Freddy took the paperwork, and headed outside into the doctors office, watching Butch be pulled outside the clinic by Amata. He shrugged, heading out towards the Atrium.

Butch was dragged around the corner by Amata, in front of the classroom. She pushed him against the wall, holding the collar of his leather vest.

"Well well well, and I thought you didn't like me." Butch smiled, pushing Amatas' arms from his collar.

"Listen Butch, something isn't right. And, despite my former thoughts of you, things have changed with Stanley and my father and...everyone. I...need your help." Butch pulled out his comb, working on his doo.

"Help? Well, what do you need, and how are you gonna pay for it, hmm?" Amata put a hand over her chest, stepping backwards.

"I'll give you anything but that, Butch. Listen, I need you to talk to your buds who joined the security forces. Find out what my father is planning to do, got it?" Butch pulled out his tooth-pick, picking his nails.

"Alright. I didn't wanna join the stupid security force anyway. But remember Amata, there is one thing i want."

"And that is?"

"I want out of this hole." Amata was shocked at butchs' request.

"What?"

"I wanna find out what it's like out there, and maybe I'll come back with something nice for everyone." Amata considered what it would be like to let Butch go out into that irradiated hellhole called the wasteland. She smiled.

"It's a deal Butch."

I'M BACK WITH CHAPTER TWO! NEXT UP, THE FORMATION OF AMATAS' REBELS, AND THE OVERSEERS' CRACKDOWN ON EVERYONE. WILL CHANGE TO M. FOR SAFETY!...ALSO, REVIEW.


	3. Chapter 3

Freddie Gomez was walking down the corridor to the Atrium, having stopped by his own sleeping quarters before reporting to duty for the day. He didn't like the uniform he had to wear. It chafed, and the helmet visor was just annoyingly dark in the emergency lighting.

As he approached the Atrium, he saw Butch leaning against the wall, combing his hair into the ice-cream like swirl he always had since he was fifteen. He put out his index finger, beckoning Freddie over. Freddie approached, taking the ill-fitting helmet off of his head.

"What's up, Gomez?"

"Nothing much, Butch. I had to move bodies yesterday. It was...sick." Freddie cringed a little, but he stopped himself from doing the eye-twitch. His V.D.S was acting up. he was getting either very sluggish during his job, or very aggravated during breaks. He kept asking Stanley for medicine, but he kept saying he couldn't find any.

"Yeah, the Holden twins. Real sad story, Bro. Hey, You wouldn't happen to know what the Overseer and his boy Stanley are up to, would you?" Freddie looked down, thinking for a moment.

"I...don't know. You should ask Paul, or Wally-"

"Man, I already asked those two dead beats. Paul aint told shit, and Wally isn't a snake anymore!' Freddie paused his thoughts on the bright lighting for a moment.  
"Wally left the snakes?"

"Yeah, says we're too child-like for him. Dumb A-hole is gonna get it one of these days." Freddie looked at Butches jacket. He always admired the Tunnel Snakes Jackets. They were made of leather, and that was hard to find and reproduce in the vault. And the snake on the back was just...awesome.

"What did he do with his, you know, Jacket?" Butch paused mid hair-swipe. He smiled, putting his comb away.

"Well, He threw it at me. And, since he ditched me, I think I could stand to get a new guy. You wouldn't happen to know anybody, would you?" Freddie felt his heart pumping fast and aggressively, shooting the testosterone from his body to his brain.

"I Wa-I mean, I might be available. Do I get one of those sweet Jackets? Butch reached into the folds of his leather jacket, pulling out Wally's' old one.

"You mean like this?" Freddie nodded, dropping his helmet. He didn't notice, nor would he have cared. He was gonna be a tunnel snake, a right bad-ass. He could punch who he wanted, when he wanted. And it would finally prove to Christine that he was more than a sensitive friend.

"Yeah, that one." Butch put it in Freddies hand.

"Then follow my lead, and look cool doing it."

Stanley was dreaming in his room, sound asleep on top of his covers. He only pulled off the kevlar vest for comfort, before collapsing to sleep.

He was dreaming of that one day. That one day..

He was at the Back of the classroom, behind Freddie gomez. It was only a week after his tenth birthday, and His Pip-Boy was still shiny and new. He was watching a slide up front, depicting the proud and civil leaders of the past. Washington, Jackson, Roseavelt. All of them were admirable, like Grognak or the Mechanist.

The bell rang, letting them all out of class. Stanley was checking his Pip-Boys to do list, when Amata came to his desk.

"You wanna see something cool?"

"Sure." She took his hand, and lead him down into the lower levels of the vault. They passed the reactor room, and into the Atrium. She lead him through a few hallways, and they finally ended up in the entrance to the vault. The door.

"My Dad showed me the other day. He said that it was important for me to know about stuff like these places." Stanley looked at the huge steel door, with the opening device still in its' pod.

"Cool..." Stanley brushed his hair out of his face, looking at the big thing. All that separated them from the end of the world.

"He also said I'm not supposed to show other people, But I made an exception for you." Stanley looked at Amata, Blushing. She took his hand, and lead him into the storage room, where-

It was six years later. Stanley and Amata were hugging, kissing in the storage room. It had been theirs for the longest time, and no one ever came to check on them. Stanley had stolen some scotch from his fathers cabinet, and they were now enjoying it. They kissed again, giggling drunkly.

"I...I member when you first show me this place." Blurbed Stanley, taking another drink. Amata laughed, holding her sweating head.

"Yeah, My daddy didn't like it that we were Besht Buds!" She giggled again, holding Stanley around the waste. He tried hugging her, but ended up falling flat. Amata laughed to hard, and fell on top of him. They laughed some more, when the door opened quickly, revealing the Overseer and Officer Hannon.

"Amata! Stanley!" He roared. Stanley was sent back home, and wasn't allowed to see Amata for several months. His dad grounded him...His dad.

It's only several weeks ago. Stanley was staring at his computer screen, reading an old file on the first Overseer. It was a report about the water purifier, nothing important. His dad came in that night, taking him home. He sat Stanley down at the table, and gave him his first cigar. Stanley didn't like it, said it tasted bad, but his dad just laughed. they enjoyed themselves, before dad left Stanley to sleep.

One thing was interrupting his sleep. All the noise of foot-steps down the hall. Stanley rose up, stretching the slumber from his limbs. His door slid open, allowing Amata inside. She seemed nervous, holding her arm behind her back.

"oh, it's you." Said Stanley, adjusting his back so that he was sitting off of the edge of his bed. Amata was about to step forward, But Stanley put up a hand.

"That's fine. What are you doing here?"

"I...I just wanted to say sorry for hitting you. I was...mad. At this whole situation." Stanley put a hand to his cheek, which was bruised from the slap, but didn't hurt all that much.

"Yeah, that's fine. I guess I can't really blame you. I mean-"

"It's just," Amata bit her lip, trying to find a way to put this.

"What?"

"It's just...My dad isn't a nice person." Stanley let out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, everyone knows that. But it's his job-"

"No, Stanley. He Killed people that night." Stanley looked at Amatas frightened face.

"What?"

"He made it so that any resident outside their quarters would be shot on sight. They killed the Holden Twins because of that." Stanley had a memory of the Twins, how they always were together, even through the teenage years.

"My god. He said they were killed by..by Rad-roaches."

"No. Old lady Taylor, That Computer mechanic that kept the Purifiers computer working, they were killed by roaches. But Tom, Mary, Jonas-"

"Jonas?" Tears were coming to Amatas eyes. She stepped forward, and sat next to Stanley on the bed. He put out his hand, and she held it.

"He helped your dad...escape. He was the one who supposedly knocked you out, and opened the door for him, and was supposed to go out with him. But my father overrode the controls, making the door shut before he could leave. I heard him run to my Fathers office, before he was caught, and he begged...and my Dad..." Amata stifled a sniff, and put her face in her hands.

Stanley was looking at the opposite wall, a tear coming to his eye. Jonas had been around since he was ten, helping with science projects, teaching him how to use a computer, even playing the occasional Grognak the Barbarian game. But Stanley thought he would be busy with Stanley Armstrong, getting the purifier up and running again. The Vaults water was beginning to become unclean, so all the remaining scientists and engineers were working on it. double shifts.

"Oh my god. I'm sorry, Amata. I wish I..I wish i knew before I acted so...rude." He put his hand around her back, holding her tight to him. Her head came up, and they looked at each others eyes-

"Officer cadence." Stanley cursed under his breath. He pulled his Pip-Boy up to his ear, listening to the radio.

"Officer Cadence, Officer Gomez, and Chief of Security Hannon, report to my office in Security Armor. Day shift begins. That is all." Stanley put his hand down, still looking at Amata.

"Do you think you'll be alright today?" He asked, as Amata wiped her eyes.

"I should be. You wouldn't mind if I.."

"If you?'

"If I stayed here for a while. My fathers been a real, tyrant, and I want to be away from him for a while."

"Of course you can. I'll pick up some of your stuff from your room. See you later today then." He gave her a hug, before slipping the vest back on, and exiting his living space. Amata sighed, sitting alone on the bed. A knocking came at the window, and Butch called inside.

"I got my boy Gomez and I got Christine! My place, or yours?" Amata shivered, beckoning Butch to come inside. He made a loud whistle in Stanleys living room, before Amata came in to see him sitting on the coffee table. Freddie and Christine were at the table.

"Freddie...What are you wearing?" Freddie Pulled on he collar of his new Tunnel Snakes Jacket, pulling it up.

"It's my new jacket. I'm a snake now." He gave a look at Christine, who was only looking at the floor. He smiled, falsely, and looked to Butch.

"Yeah, so Amata. I got us a security Bitch, ex. And a security Dudes bitch." Christine snapped out of her sad stare, glaring at Butch.

"Ha ha, little snake." Butch turned red in the face from embarrassment. Amata put up a hand to silence them.

"Okay, so now that we're all here, what do we all know?" Freddie put up his hand.

"I know that since yesterday, securities mostly just been getting people back to work. Well, the important people anyway. Old Mr. Armstrong is the only guy working on the water purifier, since both the vaults scientists left. Everyone else is either staying in their quarters, or being put to work in the maintenence department finding recyclable scrap for purifier parts."

"You mean the purifier isn't working?"

"No, it's working, but not for long. We only have a week at most before she blows contaminants all over the place. " Everyone was silent, except Butch. He looked at Amata with a piercing stare, smirking.

"So, what are you doing in Mr. Loyal Dogs place?" Amata was shocked at his audacity, turning red.

"I came to apologize to him. And that's it." He snickered, looking at Freddie, who quickly gave a fake laugh, if only to fit in. Christine just stared at the floor again, with a sad expression.

"Anyway, do you think there's enough metal for the parts?"

"No," Spoke Christine raising her head." We don't. Normally, we could just recycle metal to replace pipeline or panel, but the chemical chip in the mainframe burnt out. We'd need a computer specialist. Unfortunately, the last one died on a mission from the Overseer the night of the rad-roach attack to try and fix a security computer." She took in the stares of the others with indifference.

"I worked in the maintenence department for three years guys, I know my metal." She had a quick smile, before resuming her stare at the floor. It was tough, now that her mom and brother were gone, and her dad was a psycho. Although it was nice that Freddie had taken her with him to this. It felt good to get out.

"So...what are the Vaults options?"

Stanley hit the steps up to the security level the same time as Security Chief Hannon. He held his helmet under his shoulder, next to his Baton. His head turned to Stanley for a moment, before turning forward.

"So, you're the loyalty inspector, correct?''

"Yes. I've been working since-"

"A simple yes will suffice. I just find it, ironic."

"Ironic?"

"Yes, how the son of a traitor is a loyalty inspector. I think it's funny." Stanleys face turned motionless, taciturn to this comment about his father.

"I bet you don't like the mentioning of your father, do you?" Stanley gave a sharp nod, turning the corner to the catwalk over the Atrium. He could see Paul Hannon and Wally Mack on the other side, heading to their homes after the night shift.

"Well, he's not the only one that has left the vault." Stanley looked at Hannon oddly, raising an eyebrow.

"Sir?"

"Listen, You weren't even born before this Overseer took control, but I remember the old one. He had a few wasteland expeditions to the surface, to look for metal, supplies, and of course, people. Sadly, few vault dwellers became unhappy with life down here, and took off for the surface, making the next overseer shut it down. We lost some good people the day we finally shut the door forever. Mrs. Palmer, Mr. Taylor. All very sad. Very secret."

"Why are you telling me this?" Asked Stanley, watching the inside of Hannons' living space from the window. He was yelling at his son. Again.

"because, everyone one of us took an oath not to tell this generation of kids. I did. Your father did. Everyone. But, since your dad has left topside, i thought you might want to know."

"Why?"

"In case you want to follow his ass up there, pardon my French."

"French?"

"Old language. Forget it. In fact, forget this whole conversation. If I was caught telling you this, I wouldn't just be arrested." Stanley waited a few moments for his next words, but they never came. There was shouting up ahead. As they rounded the corner to the security level, Officers Wolf and Kendall were trying to hold some Vault miscreant down. Hannon dropped his helmet, withdrawing his baton. it slid from safe-position, just as he entered the Fray. Stanley put his right hand to his gun, watching as Hannon brought the stick into the miscreants gut. The person sank in Wolf and Kendalls arms, a shiny object falling from his hands. Wolf and Kendall dragged him towards the jail cell in the room next door, as Hannon picked up the object. Stanley came forward, to look at the object.

"A...Stylus?" Stanley took the stylus, a small metal pin with a dull point. I was never meant for piercing, let alone any offensive use.

"Well, I never thought he would have the gaul."

"Who was that?" Stanley asked, watching Wolf and Kendall throw the man into the cell.

"Mr. Brotch. You remember him?"

"Mr. Brotch? He was my teacher! Of course I know him! What did he do?"

"I don't know, Officer Cadence. I believe it's your job to find out." Hannon patted Stanleys shoulder, before joining Wolf and Kendall as they left the security room.

"Take care of him. We'll handle the patrol." Stanley watched as they rounded the corner, before turning his gaze towards the cell in which Brotch resided.

_Damn._

_SORRY ABOUT THAT. APPARENTLY, MY COMPUTER DELETED THAT LAST LINE BEFORE BEING DOWNLOADED. EITHER WAY, THANKS FOR READING! I CAN'T WAIT TO FINISH CHAPTER FOUR! I PROMISE YOU, AMAZINGNESS!_


	4. Chapter 4

Stanley looked through the bullet proof glass window that lead into the cell. Mr. Brotch sat quietly on the small cot, nursing his stomach. He occasionally looked to Stanley, eyes full of anger. Stanley could do nothing but give a brief frown, and turn to his computer.

**Log In:**

Stanley entered his code, typing it as he had for a hundred times.

**Log in , Officer Cadence. Directions:**

**Previous Files. 208 found.**

**current files. 0 found.**

**Previous Entries. 567 found.**

**Current entries. 0 found.**

**Personnel files, Previous. 58 found.**

**Personnel files, Current. 0 found.**

Stanley clicked on the current files, opening an unfamiliar screen.

**Options:**

**Open New File.**

**Convert Previous File.**

Stanley clicked new file, opening another unfamiliar screen. He felt odd, for all the years he used this computer, he only ever looked at old case files. His fingers clicked along the board, writing down what the procedures had always said to do in case something like this happened.

**File: Mr. Brotch.**

**Type: Apprehension, Possible Arrest, Pre-Questioning.**

**Info: On this date, A Mr. Brotch, African American, Teacher, was apprehended on security wing. In his possession were One. Stylus. Blunt. Two. Coffee Mug. Empty. Three. Standard Vault Pip-Boy Three-Thousand.**

**Crime:?**

Stanley rose from the terminal, saving and switching off for now. He looked through the window again, and opened his Pip-Boy. He went to his to-do list for today, scanning for an open slot.

Next to his patrol route of the Vault opening, was a small side note.

_Pick up Amatas Things._

Stanley put under this:

_Question Mr. Brotch. _

He went away from the security room, and turned down the hall. Moving through the door-way to the primary science lab, he saw the door to the Overseers Living space. Beside the door was the Vault Coffee table. Usually, it was the hub of Security, where all the officers off duty, and sometimes on, would come and talk about what was going on.

Now, it was dormant. The machine Percolating to a lonely, empty room, answered back by the beeps and bleeps of the coms room. Stanley almost felt the mood peaceful, tempted to stay for a moment and grab a doughy-pasty old Lady Palmer usually left by the machine.

But, he walked past, entering the small, living room in between the Overseers room, and Amatas. Hers was the more kindly door, if only because it had a small welcome mat with flowers on it. Stanley opened the door, walking in to see Amatas living chamber. It occurred to Stanley he hadn't been in here since he was fifteen, and that it had changed considerably. Where once was a messy, crayon and laundry strewn room, was now the very essence of a clean room. Her bed was nice and made, with a fluffy white pillow. The bedside table had a picture of Amata, her father, and her mother, all smiling for a family photo.

Stanley opened the drawers of this table, taking out a few spare suits, a pack of Bobby pins, and some other these items in his arms, he passed out the door, walking back by the coffee table. Moving out of this room, he dissapeared down the hall, returning to his room.

The overseer stood in his office, surveying the Atrium from his little round window. The sight of Hannon and Kendall dutifully on patrol, Officer Cadence bustling with some errand, and Officer Taylor shooing away some new tunnel snake.

He gave himself a smile. The system, His system, was working. In a few days, power would be restored to all the areas of the Vault. In less time, the water purifier would be back online. And, in this whole time, he will have shown vault dwellers the power of not only the Vault itself, But himself as a leader.

He was so wrapped up in his glorious thoughts, that the beeping of the computer almost didn't reach him. But, he walked away from the window, torn from his watching to answer some call. It was probably from Maintenance, saying they had the purifier back up and running.

"Yes, what is it?"

A noise like some sort of static hit the audio output, making the Overseer raise an eyebrow. He tried pressing the clear call button, but it wasn't working. It sounded like a wind-storm in the com lines.

"Hello?"

"Greetings, Vault citizen." Came an elegant, female voice across the com. The background noise purveyed, but there were other sounds, too. People talking, computer noises, and that terrible static.

"Citizen? Who is this?" He was angry now, punching the tracer on his com panel. his computer screen flickered to life, taking a moment to load a map of the whole Vault.

"This is Field Commander Heralds, first division of Enclave scouting force. I have set up a com post outside the entrance to your vault, and I shall have you know, I am granted by right of both the U.S government and Vault Tech to enter the premises. Please, open the door."

The Overseer froze. He looked at his screen, seeing it wasn't showing a picture of the Vault map, but instead a picture of D.C. He saw that the com blip was coming from exactly outside of the Vault. The video cameras out there had long ago been torn off by looters, but he knew where she was standing. She would be at the opening device, speaking into the rusted com. The static must have been...wind.

"No." He whispered.

"Excuse me?"

" NO! NO!" He punched the end call button. Breathing hard. At last, the outside world was coming to haunt him. He tried to do the right thing. He stopped the expeditions, stopped the loss of life, and stopped all contact to the outside. But now it was coming to them!

The beep was going off again. The Overseer hit trace, and saw it was coming from the outside. Again. He straightened up, and popped a few Mentats, to regain his nerves. After their chemicals settled in his mind, he hit the receive button.

"I'm am most sorry for that. This is the Overseer of vault 101." The voice came again, with that windy noise.

"Well, now that we know each others names and titles, I would like your permission to enter the premises."

"By Whose authority?"

"The Enclaves. And I will have you know, we are the authority." The Overseer shook his head. Some damned wasteland garbage which probably picked up a few old pieces of tech, coming to his Vault like they owned the place.

"Listen here, You "Enclave,"" The Overseer began, popping another Mentat." You and your radiated water swilling barbarians aren't coming in here. oh no you're not. No radiated beast will poison our purity. Good day!" He hit the end button, with a satisfactory cease to the sound of the wind.

Stanley made it down to his living space just in time to see Amata scooting one of his dining chairs back in place.

"Oh, thank you." She chimed, taking the bundle of clothes and things." You're really just too helpful." Stanley smiled, walking over to his drawer to pull out a sleeping-roll.

"This is for you tonight, for sleeping." She took it, setting it on the table with her stuff. Stanley was about to take a seat, when his Pip-Boy started to chime.

"Oh, I've got to get back to the Office. Mr. Brotch was apprehended." Amata paused in sorting through her things.

"What?"

"I don't know why, but when I got up there, they were putting him in the cell. I need to get up there for questioning."

"What could he have done wrong?"

"For all we know, it might just be a misunderstanding. I aim to find out. I'll be back after lunch." Stanley set off, jogging to get back to his post. Amata watched him leave, sighing. She wished she could have told him about the meeting, about what they all needed to do. But she just..couldn't.

"Oh, Stanley."

Mr. Brotch was now lying on the cot, staring at the flickering light in the , it would go dim for more than a few seconds, due to spasms in the power network. Mr. Brotch knew this, and that was why he had come up.

He was being assigned to scrap-recycling duty when he could have been helping reassemble the power core. Mr. Armstrong himself said it needed work, just as much as the purifier. But, when he went up to tell them this, he was beaten! For holding a stylus in his hand as he was going up.

That stupid piece of metal, he thought. He had picked it up when sorting through pile after pile of unacceptable metals. He had put it in his pocket, since it looked like it was very old, perhaps from before the Vault closed.

Before he could go on, The security door slid open again, allowing Officer Cadence to come inside. He opened the cell door, dragging in a chair to sit in. As he closed the door behind him, Mr. Brotch arose slowly on the bed, sitting up.

"Mr. Brotch. Surprise seeing you here. Can I offer you a coffee? I was going to head down to get one, after all this blew over." Mr. Brotch shook his head.

"No thank you. I'm glad it is you trying me, instead of those other people who don't listen. Seriously, you try talking to them, and it's like they don't even know I worked hard to become a respected teacher." Mr. Brotch left out the part about him chosen randomly on the G.O.A.T as a kid, for standards sake.

"Well, I can't speak for the other security officers, but I can offer you a release by tomorrow if you answer my questions." Mr. Brotch nodded, glad to be dealing with civility instead of some Communist fear-induced tricks.

"Firstly, as of earlier today, what were you planning on doing with this," Stanley produced the stylus from his pocket, its' blunt tip catching the light.

"I found it in a scrap-heap. I thought it might have been historically interesting, so I was going to keep it in my desk, maybe as a history piece." Stanley nodded, putting the stylus back into his pocket.

"And, this one is a bit harder, why were you being apprehended?"

"I would guess on suspicion of a man with a maybe sharp object." Stanley nodded again this time, but he did not smile. The boy hadn't shaved in days, Mr. Brotch could tell. he must've been tired.

"Look, Stanley. Is all of this necessary? I mean, I wasn't going to assassinate the Overseer or anything, so why do I need to be in here? Can i just go home." Stanley looked at Mr. Brotch evenly, a skill he had learned as a weaker child.

"Well, the Vault procedure is to let an apprehended person stay a whole week before release, But I'm just gonna have you stay the night." He lied, he knew. But he didn't want to show weakness. Not at a time like this, when the whole Vault depended on stern leadership authorities. A thing like this could be trivial, but it was also necessary.

"Well, I'm just gonna punch in this file over there, and then I'll be done for this day. See you around." Mr. Brotch slumped, saying nothing. Stanley exited the cell, and headed for his desk. The computer flipped on, whirring to its' slow life.

**Log In:**

Stanley entered his code, Humming lightly. He wondered what he would have for dinner tonight. Or, what would he and Amata have. _Did she like steak?_

**Log in , Officer Cadence. Directions:**

**Previous Files. 208 found.**

**current files. 0 found.**

**Previous Entries. 567 found.**

**Current entries. 0 found.**

**Personnel files, Previous. 58 found.**

**Personnel files, Current. 1 found.**

**Command: Open File: Mr. Brotch.** Stanley typed, thinking about what to make. _Maybe some sort of chicken-pasta-salad-thing?_

**File: Mr. Brotch.**

**Type: Apprehension, Suspension from Vault Duty, temporary Arrest**

**Info: On this date, A Mr. Brotch, African American, Teacher, was apprehended on security wing. In his possession were One. Stylus. Blunt. Two. Coffee Mug. Empty. Three. Standard Vault Pip-Boy Three-Thousand.**

**Crime:None so far, but he has been ordered to stay within the security cell until further notice.**

Amata was almost finished with her setting up. Her sleeping roll was un-furled on the ground, an empty plastic thing that looked remarkably like a candy wrapper. She attached a metal tube to a small bit on her PIP-BOY, and with a flip of a switch, her wrist computer vibrated, sending air into the small tube, and inflating the Bedroll. A minute later, it was a full, single person sleeping mat, with a large "Vault-Tech" logo at the head.

When she recapped it, there was a knock at her door. She rose, and saw that Butch, Christine, Eddie, and two Vault Dwellers she'd never met. She un-locked the door, allowing the pressure gauges to allow them entrance. Butch turned a chair around, sitting with his legs splayed from the sides of the back. Christine sat at the couch, with Eddie, Old Lady Palmer, and a woman Vault Dweller. She was small, with Red hair tied back in a swirling welder bun. The Man was leaning against the wall, hands in his Maintenance suit belt loops. He was an older man, with a receding hairline and Bushy Handlebar stash. He would have been un-remarkable, if it weren't for the fact he had a .32 pistol stuffed into his belt.

It made Amata nervous, as she had never seen a regular Vault dweller use a gun before. They were illegal for the average dweller, and so far as she knew, the only guns allowed by security were 10mm. pistols, and an emergency Riot Shotgun. She also knew that the Macks had an assault rifle in their storage locker, with plenty of ammo. And now, who knew how many unknown weapons were scattered through-out the Vault.

"Um, the gun.." She said, putting her fingers to the side of her face.

"Family Heir-Loom. Don't worry," He said, patting the black plastic handle with an oily hand." She don't bite unless I tell her to." This caused him to grin, showing he was missing several teeth, and the ones that remained were yellow. Amata shivered, before Christine piped up.

"This is maintenance crew member Royce Moon, and this is Helena Roll. She worked at the food manufacturing level before being transfered to waitress at the Diner." Said Christine, introducing the strangers. Amata looked at Helena, who was now looking up. Now that she got a closer look at her face, Amata saw that Helena had several bite marks on her face, and her Pip-Boy was cracked. Watching her gaze, Helena covered the screen.

"Minor problem. Stanley can fix it. Listen, Christine caught me at the diner, and I had to come and put in my two cents."

"That's very good. I'm sure your work in the food department will make for great insight."

"Yeah, in how to burn cereal." Royce laughed again, crossing his right leg over the left, same with his burly arms. One had a tattoo of a heart that said "Mother", and the other had the Vault-Boy and a cartoony bunny walking along.

"Yeah, I was technically fired for having destroyed a whole wheat crop, big deal. But, I know this: Last time the food was delivered to the diner, it was a Tuesday." She held for an effect that never came. Disappointed, she moved on.

"The Food cycler stops for manual repairs on Wednesdays. The chaos means that regular maintenance of the machine has been pushed back until further delay. Knowing that the Purifier won't be up and running for a long while, the Vault won't have any food stuffs made for a long while. Meaning, we have at most, two weeks of food left."

"My god, this is a serious problem! Why hasn't my dad done anything about it?"

"You're dad, little Missy, is concerned with getting the Vault back under his wing and keeping the panic to a minimum." Said Royce, giving his big toothy grin the whole while.

"Well, what can we do about it?" Asked Butch, his disinterest in the food topic showing through.

"The Purifier I mean. Can't we just scrap some computer Bull-Shit together to make this computer back to work?"

"No, and I think Christine must've already said why. We don't have a computer genius. We don't got the supplies, and we sure as Hell don't got time to figure out how to make one from scratch."

"Well, then what should we do-" Amata was interrupted as the door slid upward. Everyone turned to see Stanley, holding two white plates covered in wax paper. He looked around at the gathered Dwellers, and set his dinner on the table.

"Amata, what's going on?"

"Oh! Stanley! We were just having a small meeting, discussing Vault concerns and-"

"Amata! You should know everyone should be on duty or at home right now. Freddie, what are you wearing?"  
"It's a cool jacket, ya know?"

"No! You're needed on the lower levels, Freddie! And Butch, you shouldn't be anywhere near here! And Christine, you should-" Royce lifted himself from the wall, right hand ducking to his small pistol. Stanleys' eyes widened, and he dropped his hand to where his side-arm would be. It was gone from its' holster, left in his sleeping chambers several feet away.

Before he could dodge, Royce had pulled his trigger, making a loud thunder in the confined space. Freddie, Christine, Amata, and Helena covered their ears, deafened by the close proximity. Stanley staggered outside into the hall-way, gripping his chest piece. The bullet had splintered on the kevlar, made for penetrating skin, not body armor. Stanley felt lucky the man didn't aim for his head, or he would be a red stain on the floor.

Royce stalked forward, spinning the chamber and leveling it around head-height. Stanley ducked around the corner, hopping over a yellow bio-hazard bag full of dead rad-roaches. He could hear Amata screaming bloody murder, and Royce coming out, his red sneakers squeaking on the floor.

Before Royce could walk into the hall, Butch had run into his back, plugging his switch-blade into Royces' knee. In a groan of pain, he turned, and fired a round right next to Butches ear. Butch hollered while Royce brought the gun down onto his pompadour, when Stanley launched from around the corner, grabbing Royce by his neck. With a quick motion, Stanley crammed his fist into Royces' spine, bringing the man to his knees. Butch recovered, blindly slashing at Royces' face with his little switchblade, making one of his eye brows sag open. Royce tried doing a backwards head-butt, lodging his cranium in Stanleys' Crotch guard. Stanley stumbled from the impact, but Butch took the time to Drive his knife into Royces throat, making spurts onto the floor. Stanley leaned against a wall, his whole upper body bent forward, heaving and hacking as he puked up yesterdays lunch.

"My...My God Butch!.You killed him!" Christine shrieked from inside. Amata had now run out, holding Stanley by the hair. Helena had now run outside, banging her Pip-Boy on the wall, adding another crack. With a hesitant look back, she fled to the corridors of the Vault, wanting no part of this.

"Yeah...But it was Him or Me!" Butch triumphantly gave a pull at the wooden hilt of his Blade, and pulled it out... but the blade stuck.

"Crappy Communist Piece of SHIT!" Raged Butch, kicking Royces corpse.

"Butch, stop!" Cried Amata, holding Stanley around the waist now.

"Oh, blow it out yo-"

"She's right Butch. You need to stop." Stanley stood up, wiping the orange goop from his mouth.

"While I will say you helped to defend a fellow Vault member from a crazed psychopath, you have committed murder, and revealed ownership of an illegal weapon. I'm going to have to take you to Security Head-Quarters." Butch stood for a moment, the look of a dumb cow on his face, before barking a single laugh.

"HAH! Like you got the balls to arrest the guy that just saved your ass! I'd like to see you try and take me on, Pip-Squeak." Butch flapped his collar up, like a Cobra inflating its' sides. Stanley was winded now, and supporting himself on the wall with his right arm. If Butch had to be right about one thing, Stanley was sure his balls wouldn't cut the job right now.

"Run, Butch. I'll get you later. Maybe in a few days, after this is all over. But for now, just hide under your mommy." Butch Was stricken by this comment, but would not look a gift Pip-Boy in the mouth. He turned, and swaggered down the hall a bit, before turning around.

"Eddie, you coming?" Eddie turned to Christine, then back at Butch.

"I'll...I'll be right there, man." He scuttled after Butch, leaving the three alone. Christine walked over to Royce, prying the gun from his hand.

"Wow...I wonder where he kept this thing?"

"Yeah, for two-hundred years, and it still works." Whistled Amata, knowing they were dodging the obvious conclusion that there was a dead body outside Stanleys' housing unit.

"Yeah, that's what they were made for. the .32 was designed as an easy to hide weapon, able to be concealed in Casinos, or on under-cover cops. They were illegalized in the Western States, claiming them to be a threat to Casinos and the western way of life, where it was all about the bigger gun wins the fight."

"Wow...how'd you know that?" Asked Christine, now looking at how small the gun was in her palm, the barrel barely extending past her knuckles.

"I'm a Gun Nut, you could say. Comes with security. What I'm worried about is the fact he had Anti-Personnel rounds. They scatter inside of you, sawing up your organs and making it so even a Stimulant Package can't save you."

They all stood around for a brief moment, before just walking back inside. All except for Christine, who dropped the gun and just walked away, staring at the ceiling. Stanley took a seat at the table, closest to the door which he pulled down after them. Amata sat at the seat across from him, taking the Wax paper off of her meal. It was a large, red lobster on top of some spaghetti covered in cheese sauce. A fortune, seeing as how hard it was to clone a good lobster, and get the correct genetic code for saucy cheese.

"Bon Apatite." Said Stanley, putting two fingers in his mouth and smooching.

"What?"

"It's...French, i think. Hannon taught me when i went to the diner. He has tons of old, pre-war books about other countries. He was the one that suggested the noodles."

"Oh, how sweet. Why go to all the trouble, though? You've spent a lot of coupons."_ And food we only have so much left of._

"Well, I figure you're worth it. Now, what was this whole thing about?"

"Oh, I had Christine round up some people who may or may not of had any information on the Vaults' situation. Helena helped, she was the Red-Head with the broken Pip-Boy. Royce was a maintenance crew member, although I doubt if he was anything good."

"Yeah...Amata?"

"Yeah?"

"...I'll get security tomorrow. Tonight, let's just pretend this didn't happen."

"Okay. And, Stanley?"

"Yeah?"

"This Lobster doesn't taste good."

"I know."

I AM BACK WITH A NEW CHAPTER, AND AM STAYING WHERE I BELONG: AN UNDERGROUND LIVING SPACE WHERE YOU ARE NEVER ALLOWED TO LEAVE!


	5. Chapter 5

The lights were all out, and Stanleys' foot-steps echoed all around him. He was walking around, the vault seemingly impossibly small. His arms brushed against the cold steel, his hair rubbing on the dead light fixtures.

Ahead was a single light, circular and bright yellow, almost blinding. He walked as fast as the narrow corridor would allow. He could hear a voice, calling to him, saying a message out of time.

"Revelations, 21:6. I am Alpha and Omega, The Beginning and the End. I will give unto him that is a thirst for the waters of the fountain of life freely."

Stanley walked faster now, the corridor opening up a small bit. the light was closer now, and he could see into it. There was dad. And Amata. They were waiting for him. He began to run now, bumping the wall only a small bit.

Then, suddenly, the light was covered by the vaults door, black and larger than life. The Vault constricted him again, tighter now. Words flowed from no-where, cold and vague.

_Here you were born, and here you will die! Nothing gets in, nothing gets out! _

Stanley jolted up with a start. His alarm was ringing from his Pip-Boy, and he quickly clapped his right hand over it, silencing the stream of babble.

Stanley was alone in his room. He was drenched in a light sweat, stripped down to his under-shirt and briefs. Getting up slowly, he lumbered to the living room, carefully opening the door by hand. Last night, the automatic door systems were shut down to conserve power needed for metallic recycling. He carefully trod over the sleeping Amata, who was snoozing quietly on her mat. He made it to his cleaning room, where hopped into the shower and got himself cleansed of the night sweats.

Going back to his room, he donned his security suit, and strapped his pistol to his side, learning from last time. Checking his wrist, it was 5:30 AM. Normally, he would awaken at seven for duty, but he had some extra duties today. He had to investigate for himself this Royce moon character. The man had wanted Stanley dead, and Stanley had to find out why.

Silently escaping through his front door, Stanley walked around the corpse of the attempted murderer. The smell was great, and Stanley would have to inform vault security later on what had happened. The very nature of his mission, though, was brought on by his abilities as a loyalty inspector. At an early age, he displayed an affinity for questioning, law-knowing, and breaking and entry without knowledge.

His walk took him to an elevator into the living quarters level two, where most of the Vaults residents made home. Going down a single floor, the door opened on the dark living space. Officer Reynolds was on duty here, currently sitting in a folding chair with a thermos of coffee. He had been on force for three years longer than Stanley, and had been on good terms. He nodded as Stanley passed, not even thinking this early walk was odd.

Stanley groped along the corridor, switching the Pip-Boy light on, and shining it on each door number. He was familiar with where every Vault resident made home, as he was supposed to be able to drop in whenever suspicious activity was reported. Finally finding door number six-eight-three, he tried the handle. Locked.

With quick thinking, Stanley pulled a bobby pin and a screw-driver from his belt, placing it into the over-ride switch. He had learned that, despite being an expensive vault-Tech facility with state-of-the-art doors and computers, the doors could easily be picked with application of bobby pin and torque. As he fiddled a small bit, the door slowly opened, allowing Stanleys lights to filter into the filthy hole.

Dust caked everything, from ancient pieces of rusted equipment to smudgy vault suits lying on top of furniture. A baby Rad-roach skittered across the floor, escaping the room. Stanley took one step inside, and immediately smelt something horrible.

"Gah, Jesus." He pinched his nose, shining the light to the right of the room. A whole tray of rotted food was there. Ancient boxes of Sugar-Coated cereals and Candied apples were stagnating on the shelf, and next to that was a collection of rusted tools, and a broken Fuel Container of some sort.

Stanley looked away from that to the left side, where a cleaner looking shelf lay. An oily Vault Suit obscured half of the contents, but from what was evident, it was a bookshelf. Taking care, Stanley pulled a single volume out of the neat little stack, and read the half burnt cover.

"Patriots Cook-Book." It had a funny little picture of the American Flag as a Cake, but he could see little sticks of dynamite sticking out instead of candles. Thumbing to a random page, he saw it was a guide to explosives of a home-made nature.

"Somehow, this doesn't seem out of place, mister moon. But where did you get it?" Turning the floppy thing over, the publishing date was several hundred years ago. Placing it down, he walked to the back of the room, Where a dirty blanket covered an irregular shape on top of the bed. With some care, Stanley pulled it off onto the ground, revealing several several small Putty bricks attached to wires and some sort of controller. Stanley picked a cold slab up, and immediately dropped it back down.

"C4?" He covered it again, stepping back a small bit. This was serious business, as C4 wasn't something you got from the local Diner. Neither were old books, or ancient cereals. His thoughts raced back to what Hannon had said.

_Royce must have been one of the Vault dwellers that went top-side. that's where he got the pistol! And these books, and these explosives! My god, I have to tell the overseer about this._

Butch had begun his day early, walking the Vaults halls while they were mostly empty. Currently, he was in the elevator, leaning casually against a metal bar. The Vault-Map in front of him was shifting from residential level to residential level, until he finally arrived at his destination: Growth.

While a lot of the Vaults food was synthesized, the basics had to be grown somewhere. Down in the Growth sector, Vault farmers worked tirelessly to bring crop after crop of vegetable to the mouths of the Vault residents.

And it also served Butch well, as he had found a small little wing where no one usually went. As he got out of the elevator, two glass tanks flanked him. One, filled with water and Kelp, the other filled with wheat grasses. Butch walked along, singing a tune from the radio.

"Honey, You gotta dig yo man," He turned at the end of the Kelp tank, walking down some stairs into a little water-maintenance area.

"Cause he's a righteous man." He went to the back left water holder (Which had gone dry) and bent under below it, hands groping under neath for a plastic tray.

"Baby, can you dig yo man?"

He pulled out the little red tray, with a few inches of dirt. several small sprouts had come up in the months he had been growing this little crop, and he gave a small whiff. It was ripe.

"Ooh, Freddie. When I get this stuff back up there, you'll be a full snake."

As he began to get up, the floor shook beneath him. He looked down, and waited a moment. total silence.

"What in the Hell was that?" He kicked the floor, before turning to leave. And the floor shook again, this time harder. He fell forward slightly, landing his fore-head against a water container.

"God-Damn-it, what in the Hell is going on? Who's lighting off M-80's?" He looked swiftly from left to right, pocketing his precious little plants and stepping back onto the metal stairs.

"Who-ever is down here, I didn't do shit!" He ran off, leaving the room empty. Another moment passed, and it shook again, the floor bucking in one corner.

Stanley had pocketed the Patriots Cook-Book, along with procuring an example of the C-4. He closed and locked the door behind him, ensuring no other Vault resident would sneak into the room and find the supplies.

As he stepped out, he noticed the day-Lights weren't coming up at all. Power was to be conserved, and so in an hour or so emergency lights would illuminate the dark for eleven hours, before turning off to reserve power again. It was disconcerting, this time of day for there to be no light on at all to make this already spooky time a bit less so.

Forward he went, and forward he would continue still. But he felt...watched, as if a pair of eyes was keeping track of him. He turned around, but nothing was coming up or down the dark corridor, and nothing was due to wake up for another hour or so. He turned around again, swallowing and speeding his walk.

when he got to the post of officer Reynolds, he gave a small wave to the officer, who waved back happily.

"Well, good-morning you two." Stanley was un-aware even before he turned full force to the silent follower. The man was wearing a Vault-Suit, but on his face was some ancient and terrifying fire-mask, the face covered by smoked glass. In the right hand was a shining kitchen knife, black wooden handle gripped in bone-white hands.

Stanley ducked as the first horizontal swipe went over his head. The man shrieked in a way far to gutteral for a man to make. Stanley landed his shoulder in the person gut, feeling comfortable flabbiness. The man coughed at this, and officer Reynolds had already risen from his chair, Baton in the air and coming straight for the back of the skull.

As the weight of the man came on Stanleys back, he rose and flipped him onto the floor, un-holstering his pistol and turning, barrel aligned with the covered face. Blood was leaking from under the mask, and Reynolds kept the baton in both hands, face red like embarrassed.

"What the hell was that?" Shouted Reynolds.

Stanley gripped the leathery flap at the neck of the mask, pulling it off slowly. Underneath was the clean face a Vault resident. Victor Mary Cross, some Hoodlum from the West wing of the vault. Had a crazy father who was arrested for assault. Victors usually swept back auburn hair was shaved on the sides, left in a short mow-hawk. Blood was coming from his left nostril, and one eye was lazily open, revealing a Narrow-Pupil.

"It's Victor Mary Cross. He's a Chemist, I think." Stanley briefly remembered his father once doing work in the West wing, where he had consorted with some odd technical and mental types.

"Mmm, Fuh." Came Victors very low voice, as he tried to raise himself on his elbows. Reynolds baton flew to his stomach, Knocking him down again.

"Victor, What were you just trying to do?" Asked Stanley in a stern voice, but Victor only looked up with eyes full of hate and spite, his nostril snorting up some of the blood. Stanley wished he had worn a security helmet as he heard the bloody-snot switch to the mouth as Victor spat on his left cheek.

"Little Shit, you're under arrest!" Reynolds pulled Victor up by the arms, taking a plastic slip-tie from his belt and applying it to the mans meaty wrists. Reynolds turned to Stanley as an after-thought, half-way to the elevator.

"Cadence, hold fort here while I bust little Vickies Chops up at quarters." Stanley nodded, letting Reynolds and Victor cross dissapear in the behind the elevator door. Stanley sat on the small folding chair of Reynolds, holstering his weapon. He would have to report on this later, along with the dead body of Moon, and his findings in moons room. But for now, he slipped back into the chair, letting his hand slip from gun-hilt to the cover of the "Cook-Book".

Amata now awoke from her slumber on the mattress in Stanleys' living quarters. She got up slowly from the light blue covers, slipping her bare legs over the side and onto the cold metal floor. She lithely dashed from the cold floor into the cleaning room.

It was custom in the vault that a Cleaning room reflected the individuals living within. Amata saw this room as neat and clean, a shaving unit laid on the side of the sink. the shower door was still open, and a green towel lay half out of the to-clean bin. Amata tipped it the rest of the way into the bin, before disrobing and entering the shower to clean herself.

In the middle of bubbling her hair, she swore she heard a noise outside.


End file.
